To Hatch or Not to Hatch
by Falconess
Summary: In the third epsiode of the Passing the Torch series, our 3 heroes stumble upon an all-bird gym and NEO Team Rocket is finally on the verge of catching some new pokémon
1. The Missing Leek

PASSING THE TORCH  
  
EPISODE 3: To Hatch, or Not to Hatch  
  
Written by: Joanie Rich and Sheila Coe  
  
  
Chapter 1: The Missing Leek  
  
"Prepare for trouble," said a female voice as fog covered the path in front of our heros.   
"Make that double!" said a male voice as three shadows appeared behind the fog cloud.  
"To take all the world's pokémon,"  
"Being honest is no fun!"  
"To make the goody-goodies suffer our plight,"  
"We're here to rekindle the fight!"  
"Jannie!" she leaped out of the cloud.   
"Jared!" he followed.  
"NEO Team Rocket Unite in the Ways of Old!" she cried posing.  
"Sit back now, and watch our plot unfold! he posed beside her.  
"Sandshrew!!" she jumped out in front of them.  
"Stop right there you goodie-goodies!" Jannie called.  
  
"Not again! Quit following me Jannie!" Jacen cried out.  
  
"I'm not following you. It's MY job to make you absolutely miserable! That's why were twins, dork!"  
  
"That makes no sense, Jannie..." Jared pointed out.   
  
"BUT IT'S THE TRUTH!" Jannie whined loudly, "Besides you're adopted, how could you understand?"  
  
Jared's blood boiled, his forehead throbbed, "Jannie, step back."  
She saw the fire in his eyes, squeaked and frightened, stepped back.  
  
"Okay, Jared...What do you want?" Krystal asked.  
  
"A rematch!" Jared replied, "You versus me." he threw his hands wildly to make sure she got the idea.  
  
"Now? But I'm on my way to... where are we going again Jacen?"  
  
"Don't look at me, you're the one with the 'Dexter3000'..." Jacen sputtered, also backing off from the situation.  
  
"Wait I remember," Krystal started, "We're going to Brittany Space Station! It's very far away and we-" she was rambling when Jared cut her off.  
  
"AHEM!" Jared stamped his foot.  
  
"Oh! Okay, Let's battle boy-yee!" she turned her hat around, and got in her special battling position, which she adapted from her father's.  
  
"Let's make it a SUDDEN DEATH match!" Jared called out, laughing evilly, "HAHAHA!!! Yes, Death!!!" Jannie backed away even more and glanced at Jacen, with scared eyes, as if to say, "I didn't do it!"  
  
He returned the glance with one that said, "Yes, you did!" Bram, who finally decided to follow Krystal and Jacen, looked worried for his friend, Krystal, whom he had known since childhood.  
  
"Alright, Jared. You're on!"  
  
Buddy, her bulbasaur mascot, looked ready to fight, especially after his crushing defeat from the last episode.  
  
"Baby, I chooose you!" Krystal called, pulling out a pokéball and throwing it out in front of her. Buddy, horrified that wasn't choosen, rolled over in digust. The ball hit the ground and out jumped a happy snubbull!  
  
"Nice choice," Jared commented, "To battle your silly snubble, I choose the Amazing, IMPLAUSO THE MAGNIFICENT!!!! HAHA! Bow to his AWESOME powers! MWAH-HA!" he chucked out a pokéball which released a frisky farfetch'd.  
  
"That farfetch'd has about as much power as my big toe, and I pride myself in having small feet!" Krystal giggled.  
  
"oooh! You're gonna get it now! Implauso, PECK!!!"  
  
Implauso flung his beak towards Baby. Baby dodged easily and leaped on it, pinning it to the ground.  
  
"Great tackle Baby, now sit on it!"  
  
"What?" Jacen cried, "That's not a legal move!"  
  
"FLY!" Jared shouted towards Implauso.  
  
Jannie whined, "But Jared, Implauso can't fly!! He's stupid!!"  
  
Implauso, who couldn't get up from under Baby, began to flap his wings and fling his onion leek wildly around. Baby caught site of it and watched it with increased interest like a meowth with a yarnball. Suddenly she lunged at it, mouth wide, and snapped her jaws tightly around and yanked it out of his 'hands'. She yanked out a pepper shaker, shook it all over the leek, and to Implauso's shock, ate it WHOLE!  
  
Jared's jaw dropped at the site of this. Baby burped loudly and it shook the ground. Satisfied, she hopped up and wobbled back to Krystal and sat down, completely full.  
  
Implauso still lay in shock, his beak wide open in fear. "FAR?" he called out, like it would come back to him, "FETCH'D???" Suddenly he burst out into pokétears, "FAR!!!Fetch'd!! Fetch'd, FAR! Far far Fetch'd!!!" He flat-out fainted.  
  
"Guess that means I win! AGAIN!!" Krystal cried, picking up Baby and giving her a bear hug. Baby's eyes bulged and she began to feel sick to her little stomach. Krystal sensed this and held her up to her face, "What's wrong Baby?"  
  
Baby replied, "Bull," very sickly.  
  
"What?" Krystal cried, "Tell mommy what's the matter?"  
  
"Snub-" she paused, then her eyes rolled back and she moaned loudly.   
  
"Krystal," Bram called, "Baby doesn't look so good. I think you should-"   
  
"SNUB-BULL!!!" There was a disgusting upchucking noise and Krystal found her self covered in ..... ewww!!  
  
"Bul-BA!!!" Buddy ran behind Jacen.  
  
"Gross me out!" Jannie screeched, holding her nose.  
  
"I thought that would happen," Bram replied, "You gotta watch for the warning signs."  
  
"I didn't wanna see that," Jacen sighed, turning a bit green in the face.  
  
"Ohh... Poor Baby..." she set her down and picked up the pokéball, "I'll get you to a center, ASAP!" she then called her back in the ball, and deposted her ball in her backpack.  
  
Then she sniffed and looked down at her clothes, "No!! Not my shoes!! My shirt, my jacket!! It's all....over... ME!!"   
  
"Let's get you cleaned up." Jacen said, carefully touching her arm with one finger.  
  
"Good idea," said Bram.  
  
"Wait!" Jared suddenly cried out, "I'm not done with you yet!"  
  
"Yes, you are!" Jannie shrieked, "We aren't going to have anything more to do with that stinky twerp!"  
  
"But...I-m-plauso!" he spit out, picking up his fallen friend. Implauso slowly opened his eyes and then began to wail. "FAAAAAARRRRR!" Jared tried his best to calm his little buddy, but to no avail.  
  
"Man, that's harsh," Bram said, "A leekless farfetch'd is a depressing sight."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Let's go," Jacen finally said, breaking a short silence. And with that said, the small group left Jared once again standing alone in his defeat; Jannie still keeping her distance.  
  
"Come on Jared," Jannie looked annoyed, "Aren't you going to stop him? They're getting away!! AGAIN!!"  
  
"CAN IT, JANNIE!!" he looked at Implauso, who finally calmed down and was now silently mourning, "I can't believe he lost again." Jared said silently, "He used to be so good. That brat destroyed him. Destroyed me.... Well, I'll get that brat! And her little dog too!" his voice rose, "JUST YOU WAIT!! AND SEEEEEE!!" he laughed beserkly, Jannie rolling her eyes.   
  
  
END of Chapter 1 


	2. A Cliffhanger

Chapter 2: A Cliffhanger  
  
We find our heroes traveling up a steep, winding trail. Jacen had just about had enough of all the walking. Bram was excited to be out in the fresh air and be able to see the sea to their left. Krystal, in her one -track mind (a trait she inherited from her father) was focused on getting to the top and hopefully finding a pokémon center for Baby.  
  
They rounded yet another corner and came face to face with a... cliff.  
"Great!" Jacen called out, "Don't you just LOVE nature?"  
  
Krystal, who didn't understand his sarcasm, agreed, "Yes, this will be fun!"  
  
He rolled his eyes, wondering why he liked her so much.  
  
"I don't know, Krystal," Bram analyzed the situation, "I think we should turn back."  
  
"What are you, chicken! BACK-CHAW!!!" she waved her arms around and kept bawking like a chicken.  
  
"Better a live chicken than a fried one." Bram replied.  
  
"But then we'll never get to the top!" she cried.  
  
"Well, we can't scale a full-size cliff!" Bram pointed out with his finger.  
  
Krystal sat down in frustration. She began to think hard. All her energy was pointed towards finding a solution. One thing she learned from her father was to never give up, no matter what! A simple cliff problem can't stop her. Different ideas popped up, but she wrinkled her nose at them. Then, a good one burst through!  
  
"I'VE got IT!" she stood up, "Buddy 'll scale that mean old cliff! Won't you Bud?"  
  
"Bul...ba?"  
  
"Yes, you silly! Use your vine whips! Come on now! Don't got all day!"  
  
"SAUR!"  
  
"YES!"  
  
"Bul baba saur, saur. Bul-BA-SAUR!"  
  
"Fine, we'll just stay here and rot!" she turned her head up and   
closed her eyes impatiently, "I'm waiting for you."  
  
"Bulba? Bul.... Bul.... Bul-Ba."  
  
"GREAT! I know you can do it! (No pressure!)" she smiled brightly.  
  
Buddy stepped up towards the cliff and looked up. It was really high up. He was nervous, but knew he needed to. He promised Krystal. Pulling out his vine whips, he reared back and threw them high up. He stretched as far as he could and looked for something to hang onto. His right vine hit something and he clamped onto it with both.  
  
"Bulba!" he called.  
  
"Let's go!" Krystal motioned them over, grabbing onto Buddy.  
  
"Krystal, I hate to break it to ya, but I don't think he can pull up all of us." Bram said cautiously.  
  
"Yes, he can! I know you can Buddy! Now grab on to him."  
  
Reluctantly, Bram and Jacen grabbed onto Buddy. Buddy tried to bring his vines back in and pull them up, but they were too heavy.  
  
"I think Bram's right, Krystal," Jacen said softly, "Why don't we turn around and go back--"  
  
"Where?" she cried, "We NEED to get up this cliff. All Buddy needs is an... incentive!" she thought about this, and then reached into her jacket, unhooked something and brought out... her Earthbadge???  
  
"Go Earthbadge!!" she cried, poking it in Buddy's tooshi. Buddy's eyes grew wide as cantalopes and he cried out, "BULLLLLLLL!!!! BAAAAA!!!"  
  
He leaped in pain so fast everyone screamed as they whooshed up the cliff. Within a few seconds they passed the top and flew into the air.  
  
"Buddy, don't let go!! Whatever you do!" Krystal cried as Buddy came to the end of his rope! (literally)  
  
"Looks like we're blast-" Jacen started, "Where did that come from?!"  
  
They suddenly began to fall. Buddy pulled in his vine whips and attached to a tree. They all headed for the tree and hit it square in the middle. Bram was mysteriously able to steady himself mid-air and land feet-first on a thick branch, standing straight and tall. Jacen landed in a unoccupied pidgey nest, blinking in surprise at his luck, then he screamed for no apparent reason. Krystal fell through most of the tree, and would've hit the ground, but her foot was stuck in the fork of another large branch, she bobbed up and down, and was really dizzy. Many pidgeys flew out of the confusion that had entered their nesting site. Buddy had managed to pull off a decent landing on the ground, unlike his human friends.  
  
"Bul-BA!!" he called up into the tree, "BAAA-SAUR!"  
  
"I'm okay Buddy, but I'm a little sick. Now I know how Baby feels...ugh!" Krystal called down to Buddy.  
  
Suddenly, a girl ran onto the scene, "Hey you up in the tree! What's going on out here? Are you TRYING to be a nuisance!"  
  
"Could you help us, miss," Bram asked gracefully leaping to the ground, and flashing his debonair smile, "They're stuck in the tree."  
  
"I'll get a ladder!" she ran and quickly returned. She set it up and climbed up to Krystal. She looked her over, and then yanked on her foot. She pulled it out of the tree fork, but then lost her grip, "Oops!" Krystal flew down and smacked the ground hard. Buddy ran beside her and rubbed his head on hers, "BulBul, BA!"  
  
Slowly, but surely, she sat up and her eyes spun around. She swayed back and forth, unsteadily as the girl made her way up to Jacen, who hadn't stopped screaming.  
  
Kinda drunk-like, she snatched Buddy, into another hug, and muttered something to the effect of: "Oooh! Slephfooooollll! I Luv UUUUUUU!!! Alllll of the thyme!!!! And I know UUUU doooooodddoooo tttoooooo!" and with that out of her system, she fell over.  
  
All of the sudden, another body fell out the sky and landed on top of her. Jacen yelled all the way down, "KRYSTAL!" Buddy had luckily leaped out of the way.  
  
A voice came from above, "OOPS! I did it again! Darn the luck! Hee-Hee! Guess you can call me Butterfingers!"  
  
"YES! BUTTERFINGERS!" everyone yelled. She climbed down and took down the ladder. With a flick of her hand, she threw back a small strip of brown hair that always seemed to swing in front of her face. Her copper brown hair was curly and stopped abruptly at her chin. Her blue eyes, the color of the sky, looked straight at Bram, missing Jacen, Krystal and Buddy completely.  
  
"So, who are you? And what were you doing in my tree?"  
  
"Your tree?" Jacen asked.  
  
"My tree. I own this property. I'm the gym leader and I--"   
  
"Gym? I have to battle you! I'm an experienced pokémon trainer." Krystal interrupted.  
  
The tall girl glanced towards Krystal who was still on the ground with a stunned Jacen, now sitting on top of her. Seeing that he was, he got off and blushing slightly, brushed a few stray twigs out of his semi-long, flame-colored hair.  
  
Krystal now was able to hop up and face the gym leader.  
  
"Who are you little girl?" she looked oddly at Krystal's messed up clothes that were stained by Baby's puke.  
  
"Little?" she cried, then stood up tall, (only reaching the girl's nose in height) "My name is Krystal Ketchum."  
  
"OH! As in Ash Ketchum?" she said excitedly, bursting with a sudden joyfulness.  
  
"Yes, why?"  
  
"OOOOH! Can I have your autograph?" the girl asked in a squeal, freaking out Krystal.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, because you're the closest thing I'll ever get to meeting the great Prof. Ketchum!!!"  
  
She hated being overshadowed by her own father. One day she would prove herself to be great, by herself. Then no one would compare her to her father anymore. She answered, "Fine."  
  
The girl brandished a pencil and a small blue book. Krystal took the pencil in her left hand, and the book in her other hand, and proceeded to scribble her John Hancock into the book. She flipped it shut and handed it back to the girl with a sigh.  
  
"So, who are you?" Bram asked suavely.  
  
"I'm Gail; just Gail."  
  
"Like Madonna," Bram inquired.  
  
"I... don't think... So, your name is..." she said batting her eyelashes.  
  
"Bram," he whispered, kissing her hand.  
  
"Oohh!" she cried, "Such a gentleman! How about I show you around my gym, Bram."  
  
"But I want a Gym battle!"  
  
"Sounds great!" Bram replied, ignoring Krystal's plea completely.  
  
They followed Bram and Gail along a tree-lined path leading to a large circular complex about the size of a large high-school.  
  
  
END of Chapter 2 


	3. You Caught MY Pokémon!

Chapter 3: You Caught My Pokémon!  
  
Neo Team Rocket was only a few steps behind our heroes, and had reached the same cliff. They looked around and finally ended up looking far above at the summit of the cliff.  
  
"Well, I'm not going to climb it!" Jared stated.  
  
"I can't. I got my nails down last week." she said looking at her gloves, not realizing that the excuse wasn't a good one.  
  
Jared sighed, "Well, are pokémon can't get up there... Wait! I've got an idea!" he reached in his pants pocket and pulled out a small cellphone. He dialed and held it up to his ear. Jannie looked on puzzingly.  
  
"Oh, I'm calling my guardians," he whispered, "Oh! Is Cass there? This is Jared." he stood and waited, taking in the scenery, "Hi Cassidy! Um, me and Jannie are stuck on this cliff by Coral City. Can you send in a 'copter? Yeah, that's great! You're the best. I love you! Bye!" he smiled and put the phone back in it's place.  
  
"What now Jared?" Jannie asked sitting down on a medium-sized rock.  
  
"Well, it should take about 30 minutes or so, so... we wait!"  
  
"Oh... Hey! I've got an idea!"  
  
"What? You!" he asked.   
  
She nodded.   
  
"Let's throw a party! It's your first real idea! I'm proud of you!" he was so excited he hopped up and down and gave her a geniune hug, "So, what's the big idea?"  
  
"Let's let our pokémon out of their pokéballs!" she said with even more enthusiasm than Jared.  
  
"That's it? That's the 'great' idea?" he asked, disappointed.  
  
"Jair-red! I never said it was a 'great' idea, I just said it WAS one. You made the big deal over it!"  
  
"Well, it's not great, but at least we won't be bored. Good job, Jannie. You ought to think more often."  
  
"I THINK I will. Sandy go!"  
  
"Shrew!" Sandy popped out from behind her.  
  
"There you are, my cutie!" Jannie cooed.  
  
Jared sighed, "Implauso come on out!" Implauso, the now leek-less Farfetch'd rolled out of his pokéball as it hit the ground. He moaned, sat up and began to wail again. Sandy walked over to him and plopped down beside him.  
  
"Shrew?" she asked softly.  
  
"FARRRRR!!" he cried, holding out his wing where he used to keep his onion and gestured with his other wing that it was gone.  
  
"Shrew... sand...sand..." she said, patting him on the back, "Sand! Shrew sand shrew!" she suggested happily.  
  
"Fetch'd?" he asked.  
  
"Sand-SHREW!" she replied.  
  
"Far, far far fetch'd! Fetch'd fetch'd far!" he gave her a big hug, still sobbing a bit.  
  
Jannie and Jared looked on at the touching scene, "I can't believe your stupid Farfetch'd lost again!" Jannie rudely commented, "You're losing your touch, you know? You used to be soooooo good! Now look at you, you and that loser pokémon!"  
  
"IMPLAUSO is not a loser. How would you like it if I left you on this cliff?"  
  
"Then you'd just be an even bigger jerk! I'm your girlfriend, and you're supposed to treat me special, like a princess!"  
  
"What?! Princess my FOOT!" he yelled, poking her in the shoulder.  
  
"Don't 'poké' me!" she squealed stepping on his foot. He pushed some dirt on her shoe. She hissed and she pinched his nose. They proceeded to chase each other around the small area. Sandy and Implauso looked on and rolled their eyes, still clutching each other.  
  
A puff of smoke appeared beside Implauso. They jumped back and soon found themselves staring at an intruder. It was a wild pokémon! "Shrew!!" Sandy called, "Sand-Shrew!!"  
  
"What, Sandy?" Jannie stopped picking on Jared and Jared looked on at the pokémon.  
  
"Wow! A wild pokémon!" Jared exclaimed.  
  
"Where?" Jannie looked wildly around until she spotted it, "OH! It's a... a... I'll check my pokédex!" she dug madly in her pockets, but came back empty-handed, "Oh! I forgot I gave it to my nosy little brother for Christmas last year!! GRR!"  
  
"I don't need no stupid pokédex! I know what it is... it's a... you know... one of... those... yeah!"  
  
"You don't know either so bleh!" she stuck out her tongue.  
  
"Of course I know, it's a Hypno!"  
  
"No, it's not! That's the thing with the ee-ee-ee-ee thing!" she answered, waving her hand back and forth like a pendulum. He looked scared, "You know, the thing that, like, puts you to sleep and stuff!"  
  
"Oh, yeah, so this must be an..." he thought hard, "-an ABRA!!! I'm sure this time."  
  
"AB-RA!" it sounded like a scratchy record.  
  
"It reminds me of Butch, my guardian," he sighed, "I hope they get here soon."  
  
Implauso examined the strange pokémon that sat beside him. The abra suddenly came to life, reached out a finger, and poked him in the eye,   
which caused Implauso to return to a state of depression. He cried loudly. Jared got angry at this, "Implauso, don't take that, beat him up!"  
  
"Sand!Sand!Sand!" Sandy scolded, waving a claw at the abra. The abra looked at Sandy, or so it seemed. (Who can tell? It has 'Brock' eyes.)  
Sandy then punched it in the gut! It fell over and then leaped up, ready to fight!  
  
"BRA! Ahhhhh!! Ahhh-BRA!" it yelled viciously, it then used a Rest attack, (Which isn't really an attack, more a defensive manuever.) and fell fast asleep.  
  
"Sand!" Sandy cried, perching on top of it and beating it's head in victory, "Shrew Sand-Shrew!" she made a peace sign and posed.  
  
"FARRR!! Fetch'd fetch'd fetch'd!!" Implauso cheered.  
  
"Ooh! I'm gonna catch it!" Jared decided, pulling out a pokéball and throwing it. It hit the abra's head and it was sucked into the ball, dropping Sandy, still perched on it, onto the ground. The pokéball wiggled a few times, and shut down, indicating the pokémon was caught.  
  
"But Jared!!! That was my pokémon!"  
  
"It didn't have your name on it!" he explained, picking up the ball and placing it in his pocket.  
  
"But Sandy, MY Sandy weakened it! So I should get it!"  
  
"Jannie," Jared started, "You and I know that you couldn't catch a pokémon if it was handed to you in a paper bag!"  
  
"Hmph!" Jannie turned away in disgust.  
  
Just then, Jared spotted the helicopter. It came closer and he waved his arms, and leaped up and down. Soon it was hovering above them and they had to hang on to pokémon so they wouldn't blow away. Butch waved from the helicopter and lowered a rope ladder.  
  
"Hi!" he called, "Finally!" He called back Implauso, and scurried up the ladder. Jannie grabbed Sandy and shoved her on the ladder and pushed her up. She leaped on and followed her. When they climbed into the helicopter they settled in and Jared began to converse with two of his favorite people, Butch and Cassidy.   
  
"And I caught the abra all by myself too! Isn't that awesome?"  
  
"That's great!" Butch replied from the front, in his usual raspy voice.  
  
"You know," Cassidy started, "We were starting to get worried. We didn't know you had left Viridian. You should have called at least!"  
  
"I know..." he said apologetically.  
  
"If Giovanni knew we lost you..."  
  
"I know, I know, I'm sorry..."  
  
Jannie saw a whole new side of Jared, that had buried itself from her until now. She kinda liked it. If only he felt that way towards me, she thought. That would be more like a real boyfriend.  
  
"Hey Jared, Whose your girlfriend?" Butch asked smiling.  
  
"Uh, this is Jannie."   
  
"Jannie," Butch contemplated, "That's a pretty name, for a pretty girl." Cassidy eyed Butch, and he grimaced.  
  
"Do we know you?" Cassidy asked, "It's as if I've seen you somewhere before, but no. I never forget a face. Especially one as sweet as yours."  
  
"Well here we are," Cassidy commented, "Looks like a Gym down there."  
  
"That's that all bird gym," Butch replied.  
  
"Bird Gym?" Jannie repeated.  
  
"You guys should check it out," Cassidy suggested, "I just wish you could stay longer... Just be sure to call from now on Jared. You know we worry..."  
  
"I will," he promised.  
  
"Good luck kid! We'll be watching out for ya!" Butch said, as the helicopter set down a few hundred feet from the front steps of the gym, "If you need anything, just give us a call!"  
  
"Alright! Bye!" he said.  
  
"Bye, kiss-kiss!" Cassidy called.  
  
They jumped off the helicopter and waved as the helicopter left the ground and flew away almost as quickly as it had come.  
  
  
END of Chapter 3 


	4. The Very 'Grand' Tour

Chapter 4: The Very 'Grand' Tour  
  
"Welcome!" Gail cried, "To the Aviary Gym!"  
  
The small group oohed and awed as she opened the large double doors to the circular gym building. They entered into a long hallway that was held up by many large arches, covered in creeping ivy vines. There were rooms to the left and right and they continued down the hall. The hall then rounded and they walked past many windows that let in the bright sunshine. They finally reached two large doors that had pictures of the 5 infamous ledgendary birds carved into them.  
  
"Before we go into the Hatchery, I need to ask all of you to PLEASE be very quiet. If you absolutely HAVE to talk, whisper, please! AND PLEASE KEEP YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS!!!" she added in a screech.  
  
Krystal and Jacen obediantly shoved them in, in fear of Gail's wrath, and Bram stood horrified looking frantically for pockets to put his hands in. He began to whine, "But I don't have ANY pockets!!"  
  
"Well, then.... Just keep your hands to your side," Gail replied, closing her eyes in attempt to control herself, fists clenched.  
  
His hands immediately stuck to his side, pulled by some unseen force.  
  
"I say this only in respect for the pokémon. We have some expectant mothers. If you startle them, you could disrupt their egg-laying cycle. We also have many indoor incubators, so please DON'T touch them! The eggs are very fragile, and WE CAN'T LOSE A SINGLE ONE!!!....Okay?"  
  
They nodded quietly with a nervous chuckle.  
  
"Okay then!" she said excitedly, pulling open the large doors. They scurried inside, and she shut them silently behind them. It was a very large room seperated into two sections. On the left lay a few different types of habitats, seperated by glass walls. There were many types of trees, a desert landscape, and even a large cliffside. All over lay thousands of nests, almost every one occupied by a bird-type pokémon. The floor was covered in other bird pokémon who were eating food and drinking water out of small bowls. Others were perched on perches camouflaged as logs and small trees.   
  
Jacen was amazed to see so many bird pokémon in one place. There were pidgeys and spearows, plus rare pokémon like some farfetch'd and even a large Pidgeot that was perched high at the very top of the cliff, asleep on it's large nest. Also walking about were some psyducks and doduos. Krystal and Bram however, were more interested in the other side of the room. Krystal ran up close to the glass of a large incubation room. She looked in and saw many different eggs of all sizes and colors. Bram studied one large chamber at the back of the room which contained hundreds of white eggs. Every single egg sat in a small nest. There were arranged in columns and there seemed to be about 20 per column and at least 30 columns spanning across the chamber. A large library ladder was parked at the end of the columns.  
  
Between the sections lay a tiled mosaic-like path that cut the room in two. Gail walked down to the end of the path, where a mega-sized computer system and 10 ft monitor sat. She motioned for the group to follow. At the computer was another girl. She typed at the console. Her jet-black hair was sticking out under a feather-hat and as she turned, Jacen noticed she had bright yellow eyes.   
  
"This is Heather. She is one of my assistants here at the gym. She monitors the incubation chambers and makes sure the conditions are just right for the eggs. Different pokéeggs need different levels of heat and humidity."  
  
"Hi, Gail." Heather said, smiling at Bram. Bram returned another suave smile.  
  
"How are the pidgey eggs?" she asked.  
  
"Right on schedule," she reported, "Who are your friends?"  
  
"A few out-of-towners. I'm giving them a tour, and then this little one," she pointed at Krystal, "Wants to battle me."   
  
"I have some great news," Heather started.  
  
"What?" Gail asked.  
  
"I think... it's today..." she revealed. There was a look of surprise on Gail's face.  
  
"Are you sure?" she hurriedly asked, "Isn't it a bit soon?"  
  
"What? What's today?" Krystal stepped forward and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"You may be in for a real treat today, Bram," she told him, ignoring Krystal, "The Great Hatching is a spectacular site."  
  
"What is that?" Jacen asked.  
  
"Only the greatest event of the year!" replied Gail, "It is the time when all of our pidgey eggs hatch. I should have known it would be early this year, because of the weather patterns. And most of the usual staff is out for vacation this week..." she paced around, looking at Heather and then at the chamber full of eggs.  
  
"Can we manage with only ten staff members?" Heather asked, who also began to look a bit worried.  
  
"What about us?" Bram suggested, "I'd be glad to help!"  
  
"ME Too!" Krystal called out, "And you too Jacen, right?"  
  
"I guess," he began.  
  
"I don't know... We need properly trained people--" Gail tried to explain.  
  
"But Gail," Heather interrupted, "If they don't help, we're in danger of losing some...Remember last year--"  
  
"Don't remind me. That was a hard time," Gail looked very gloomy.  
  
"What happened, Gail?" Bram asked.  
  
Gail took a breath and explained, "Last year's hatching was also very early in the season. But earlier than this, in May. Many of the pidgeys hatched too quickly and we weren't able to keep them in their nests, a few fell out of them and died. We had too few on staff to watch them and had used up most of the food for the other pokémon. Worse yet, there was a malfunction in the computer system and one night it got too hot in the chamber and some of the late eggs spoiled... It wouldn't be so hard if we could convince the Gym Association that we need extra funding to build safer, newer facilities."  
  
"Then you do need us?" Krystal asked, feeling sorry that such things had happened.   
  
"I guess, it couldn't hurt," Gail finally answered, even managing to look at Krystal, "But first, we should get you some new clothes."  
  
Krystal looked down at her stained clothes and was throughly embarassed, "Thanks, I guess I do need some..."  
  
  
END of Chapter 4 


	5. Eggs 'n' Onions

Chapter 5: Eggs 'N' Onions  
  
"Ooooh!" she squealed, "Look at all the yummy eggs! Jared, I WANT an OMELET!"  
  
"What?!" Jared said, distracted with worry about Implauso whose mood was only getting progressively worse, "An amulet?"  
  
"NO, STUPID! OMMMMME-LLLLET! You know eggs, a little cheese and sauce..." she replied, licking her lips hungrily.  
  
"Oh...I gotcha..." he finally answered.  
  
They were looking in through the tinted hatchery window. It was hard to see through it, so their faces were practically plastered against the window panes to see. Sandy was inbetween Jared and Jannie, standing on her tiptoes on top of three fat books to see inside.  
  
"Look, there they go!" Jared said, watching our heroes leave the hatchery, "That Brat!!! I'm going to get her for what she's done to me... especially for Implauso's sake," he looked sadly at his poképartner in crime.  
  
Implauso felt depressed indeed. He felt neglected because of Jared's new pokémon. Especially since the new abra had been bestowed with a cool name, Mr. E., thought up by Jared himself. (*Author's Note: get it? Mr. E...Mystery-heh-heh...) Implauso only traveled so far on the "cool meter".  
  
"Jair-air-air-red! I want an OMELET, and I want it NOW!" Jannie wailed loudly.  
  
"SSHHHHH!" he spit, taking her by the collar, "Do you want them to find us??"  
  
"Say it! Don't spray it, Dude!" Jannie retaliated.  
  
"Are you forgetting that we are wanted?"  
  
"I know everyone wants me," she said conceitedly, "But why would they want you, you're a shorty."  
  
"Shutup!" he yelled, "I'm not short, you're too tall!!!"  
  
"Anyways, I WANT an omelet. My daddy used to make me one every day for breakfast. I want one. They were just right. I-want-one. And not burnt or floppy! Iwantone. Nobody makes them like Daddy does! I want one... NOW!"   
  
"SHREW!" Sandy agreed eyeing Jared with hungry eyes.  
  
"Alright!" he exploded, throwing her backwards, "But not Pokéeggs... That's just disgusting..."  
  
"O-kay... but we'd better find somewhere close... I want one now..." she said in a depressed voice.  
  
"Shrew..." Sandy agreed. Again.  
  
"And while you two are stuffing your FACES. 'I' am going to search for a Pokémon Center for Implauso." Hearing his name, Implauso looked up with big puppy-dog eyes, "THEY can help you," Jared assured him.  
  
"Oooh! Goody! Let's go now!!" Jannie said, hopping up and clapping her hands excitedly.  
  
* * * Later...  
  
After walking a long distance of which we can't describe, they arrived in an extremely rural valley town. It had little more than a Pokémon Center and a few shops. More of a tourist trap than anything else. They were able to walk to the end in five minutes.   
  
Jannie, who also had a great sense of food and where it was located, found a small diner at the end of the town. She and Sandy entered cautiously and found it to be completely void of people. There was an assortment of booths and tables, but they looked as if they hadn't been used recently. They approached the counter and Sandy jumped up onto a barstool and spun around. Jannie cranned her neck over the counter and looked around, but didn't see a soul.  
  
Then she looked down and noticed a silver, well-polished bell. Beside it sat a card that said, in neat scripted letters, "PLEASE RING FOR SERVICE". Being somewhat intelligent, she was hungry and felt it couldn't hurt. As soon as she touched the bell and it rang out a clear loud note, a man literally popped out from behind the counter, as if he was crouching there the whole time. She stared for a few seconds in shock and then hastily took her finger off the bell. A strangely familiar poképolka tune played. She remembered hearing somewhere before.  
  
"Hellu! How may I 'elp-a you?" the man asked.  
  
Jannie took a good long look at him. There was something familiar. She squinted at him, "Victor... van Flugleman???"  
  
"Nupe! Vut, I'm 'ees vittle bruther! My name ees Vincent van Flugleman. Velcome to me vittle Egg-a Shoppe!"  
  
"EGGS? Veally--I mean Really?" Jannie asked, her eyes widened at the promise of omelets.  
  
"Yes, vould you like-a to see zee menu?" he replied displaying a big grin on his face.  
  
"Sure, but do you have any omelets here?" she asked again.  
  
His eyes lit up with incredible joy, and the polka played a bit again, "Do vee 'ave omelets? Do VEE 'ave OMELETS? Ees zee moon made of cheese? Eet is me specail'tee!!!"  
  
He pulled out a menu from behind his back and she took it quickly. She opened and began to run her finger down all the choices. She stopped at the longest thing on the menu, the VanFluglemaweiderminsteinburger Omelet-Deluxe. He noticed her look of confusion and started a sales pitch.  
  
"I zee you 'ave found zee spec-ee-al of zee day! Vhich ees ever-ee day! It is zo del-lee-cee-ous that you vould never vant to eat a-gain!"  
  
"Oooh! I'll take two!!" she squealed with delight.  
  
"Doo? You can't 'andle doo vittle girl!" he put his hands on his hips.  
  
"I'm not a little girl!!! My name's Jannie McScanty and I want two omelets. One for me and Sandy!"  
  
"McScanty?" His widened even further, "The McScanty Vestauvant Owners?"  
  
"Yes, why?" she asked.  
  
"I knew yur parents! Zhey ure very famous in zee Vestauvant Verld!!" he said overly excitedly, "Zhey 'elped me start me shoppe! I vus bruuke, but now I'm een business!"  
  
"Vow! That's vunderfull!" she said, proud of her imfamous parents.  
  
"Zo if you vill excuse me, I will make you doo zome of zee specials, and put on me special vaiter outfit! Just fer you! I guut it from me broother, Victor, whom you ventioned. He made eet just zis last veek, und I vant to try eet on! You ure zee virst cuustomer of zee dey, and zee veek fer that-a matter!" he scuttled off to 'zee' kitchen.  
  
Jannie sat next to Sandy another barstool, and spun to the light music that began to float in from the kitchen. They waited until finally they heard a strange 'rip' and a bunch of clothes came flying from the open kitchen door. Jannie and Sandy looked at each other with a bit of fear, until Vincent came bursting out of the door. They fell off in shock and quickly 'scrambled' back up.  
  
They stared at his "interesting" costume. He was wearing a giant egg suit, painted like an Easter egg with holes for arms, legs, and head. His head was topped off with a tall pink egg hat, that resembled those giant plastic Easter eggs people put on their lawns.  
  
"Ere you goo, Yain-nee!" (*Author's Note: Yes, Jannie is pronounced 'Jane-ee') he set down two plates in front of them. On each was a large omelet. Each had sauce dripping over it and was garnished with a sprig of parsley.  
  
"Umm... where's the rest of it?" Jannie asked politely (a true first for her), "It's just a plain omelet! Where's the cheese, and everything else for that matter. I thought this was supposed to be something cool!!! But it just a plain ole' omelet!!! I'VE BEEN GIPPED!!!!"  
  
"'old on a vinute Yain-nee! You haven'ta paid me yet!"  
  
"I not paying for something this low quality!" she sneered, "My daddy would be so disappointed in you!"  
  
Sandy reached for her fork and prodded the omelet. It let out a small squeak, bubbled, and deflated a bit. She cut up a little piece and picked it up. Jannie heard the omelet and whirrled around on her barstool to see where the noise had come from. She spotted Sandy about to gulp it whole.  
  
"Don't eat that Sandy! You don't know where it's BEEN!" Jannie yelled, snatching the fork away from her.  
  
"SAND-Shrew! Sand-sand!" Sandy pointed out.  
  
"Yes, I know it was in the kitchen, but it's not safe to eat! It probably tastes like garbage!" She suddenly caught a whiff of the omelet piece on the fork, "OOOOHh!"  
  
"SAND! SAND!" Sandy whined.  
  
"Maybe I should I try a bit, just see that it's safe," and with another protest from Sandy, she gulped it down. She sat for a moment, sampling the taste. Funny, it tasted... GOOD! "MMMMMMMMMMmmmmm! SCRUMPCIOUS!! That's even better than Daddy makes!!! You HAVE to give me the recipe!"  
She continued to gobble Sandy's omelet. Sandy scooted off her barstool and Jannie slid on to Sandy's, "Thanks Sandy!" Sandy then hopped up on the barstool Jannie was on and proceeded to eat Jannie's omelet.  
  
"SHREW!" she said.  
  
"I KNOW it's good Sandy! Didn't I tell you it would be?" Sandy paused in her eating, looked at her, and then shrugged it off and continued to eat.  
  
"I'm-a so glad you like eet! And becoose you ure sooch a sveet vittle lady, you kin 'ave eet fer FREE!! But the recipe will cost you 50 dullars! Eet's a VanFlugleman fam-ee-ly secret you know!"  
  
"Uh-Nevermind!" Jannie answered, "I think we'll just take the omelets in a doggie bag.  
  
"I kin do thata fer you!" he smiled and once again disappeared under the counter.  
  
* * * Meanwhile * * *  
  
Jared, cradling Implauso, burst through the Pokémon Center doors with a powerful kick. Immediately all attention inside was diverted to him. He took a few steps in and looked around. Everyone watched in wonder and a bit of fright as scanned the area for Nurse Joy. Finding her, he called out in a roaring voice, "I NEED A LEEK!!"  
  
"You have a LEAK?" a little boy giggled, as a boy beside him giggled also and they began to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
His hearing picked it up like a blip on a radar screen and whipped around to face the boys, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!?" he eyes were full of fury. The little boys stuck to the spot in fear, one spoke up softly, "Nothing..."  
  
"Good! Now," he strolled on towards the desk, "Nurse Joy, I need a leek, otherwise known as an ONION!!" the little boys cowered.  
  
"You don't need to yell young man, we can all hear you just fine," Nurse Joy commented as he slammed Implauso onto the front desk. Implauso sat in a state of total depression and didn't care enough to respond. He let out a sniff and fell over.   
  
Jared sighed and sat him back up. Nurse Joy looked Jared over and then examined Implauso, "Farfetch'd... Yes, I think we have some leeks in storage just for something like this...I'm sure of it. Would like fries with that?" she smiled waiting for a laugh.  
  
"I'm not in the mood for jokes," Jared said, crossing his arms, giving off an even more frustrated impression.  
  
"Fine," Nurse Joy sighed, "Have it your way!" She stomped off in a bit of a tizzy. Jared waited and soon became bored. Then he paced around the room like a caged persian, making everyone in the center even more nervous and worrysome. They hoped he would leave soon. The two boys he had encountered could take no more of the suspense, shrieked, and dashed through the double doors. Jared didn't even notice as his anger grow by the second. He watched the hands on a nearby clock go round and round and round. Agitated to the point of craziness he was about to go ballistic, when Nurse Joy returned carrying a large, freshly-cut leek.  
  
As soon as she entered the room, Implauso perked up, "FAR?" Discovering that Nurse Joy had a leek, he sat up in expectation, and began to squirm around, "FAR!! Fetch'd Fetch'd Fetch'd!!!"  
  
Implauso was about to jump for Nurse Joy and Jared caught him and held him down, "FARRRRR!"  
  
"Hurry, Nurse Joy! I don't know how long I can keep him back!!!" Jared called as Implauso started to flail around in his arms.  
  
"Okay, okay!" She ran over and handed Jared the leek. She stood there for a second and he said, "Oh, yeah... thanks..."  
  
Fed up with Jared's attitude problems, Nurse Joy sighed, "You're welcome," and returned to her post at the front desk. Jared finally put down Implauso and he presented to him his new leek, "There you go buddy! Good as new!" Implauso leaped into the air with joy, and did a cute pose with his new weapon!  
  
"Far-FAARRRR!" he then hugged it and gave it a kiss, obviously very pleased with his new present.  
  
"Alright, Implauso, time to go, and reclaim victory from that... BRAT!"  
  
"Fetch'd?" Implauso asked.  
  
"Yes, and I suppose we should find that oddball Jannie too!" he sighed, wishing he could forget about her. They left the center and traveled back to the old diner.  
  
  
END of Chapter 5 


	6. Bird Battle Frenzy

Chapter 6: Bird Battle Frenzy  
  
After hours of walking around in smelly, stained clothes, Krystal finally was able to relieve herself. Unfortunately, Gail's clothes, which she had so graciously lent to her, consisted of just a bathrobe. She pulled the fuzzy, blue robe closer around herself and stepped out of the bathroom, still wearing her prized hat. The robe, although fuzzy, made her itchy all over.  
  
"This isn't fit for battle," Krystal admitted, blushing a bit.  
  
"I'm sorry, but that's all I have. Today is laundry day, so lucky for you, your clothes will be washed," Krystal smiled at this thought, "But," Gail continued, "They won't be ready til this afternoon and my wardrobe is empty."  
  
"Well," Krystal sighed and turned to Bram, "Bram, could I-uh-well... borrow some of yours?" she asked blushing even harder.  
  
Bram also frowned, "Sorry, but my stuff is also being washed and my extra cape is at the dry cleaners."   
  
Krystal didn't think she'd look good in one of Bram's cape's anyways; that was something that made him... well... Let's just say it's a fashion statement only Bram could pull off without making him odd.  
  
Krystal's face turned pityful, she thought hard about what to do. Finally, an idea came to her. She turned to Jacen and asked him very politely, "Can I borrow some of your clothes? Please?"  
  
His face scrunched up in shock, "MY clothes?" he chuckled a bit uneasily, "MY clothes. I well-I-guess... I mean... Oh! I don't know Krystal. I'm so much, um...older than you and tall and,"  
  
"I KNOW I'M SHORT!" she shouted a bit too loud,"But that doesn't mean I can't wear them."  
  
"But you're a... girl."  
  
"Yes, but this robe is itchy! I can't stand it anymore!"  
  
"Well, okay..."  
  
"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!" she hopped up and down, clapping her hands rapidly.  
  
Jacen reached into his old Arcanine-striped backpack that he had had since he was small, and pulled out a shirt, shorts, and a pair of socks, handing them to Krystal.   
  
Dashing back into the bathroom, the trio waited for Krystal to change and come out. A few minutes later, she emerged wearing Jacen's large red shirt, what appeared to be baggy, yellow shorts and two slouching socks that fell to her ankles in a bundle.  
  
Although these clothes fit more comfortable than the bathrobe, she felt like a funky rapper. Jacen's clothes made her feel more embarrassed. Bram looked on and smiled inspite of himself. Gail giggled but then commented that she that she liked that 'look' better than the bathrobe.  
  
"Krystal," Jacen began with a smile, "I think you look even better in them than I do."  
  
"Um-Thanks, I think," she replied. Krystal still longed for normal clothes, but decided that these were probably the best she would get. Annoyed as she was, she would have to keep wearing them until her clothes were properly disenfected.  
  
Her mind then swithced to the battle at hand, "Now that this had been taken care of," she said to Gail, "Can I battle you?"  
  
"Sorry, but I promised Bram he could go first today! Don't worry, you'll get your chance."  
  
Krystal took in the words harshly, and crossed her arms, making her look like a bad rapper.  
  
"Let's set up the rules. How about a 1 on 1?" Gail asked Bram.  
  
"Sounds great," Bram answered.  
  
"Then let's migrate to the Arena," Gail said motioning for everyone to follow her as she disappeared down a hallway. They followed and a few minutes later, they arrived at the Arena.  
  
Like the rest of the building, it was of circular design and in the middle was the playing field. All around lay columns covered in more creeping ivy vines. The ceiling was a huge glass dome that let in millions of rays of sunshine that lit up the marble floor. The lines of the playing field were marked with the mosiac tiles like in the hatchery. Beside the columns were stadium like bleachers, with about 4 rows per section, that spanned around the room.  
  
"Okay, let's take positions, and get started!" Gail called as she flew across the room and stood in the trainer box marked on the floor.  
  
Bram approached the second one and stood ready for battle.  
  
"There will be no time limit. First winner takes all," Gail projected her voice, although the arena itself amplified any voice well, "My pokémon will be... Talon!" she cried as she took a pokéball from her waist and threw it high into the air. It burst open and out flew a magnificent Pidgeot, which spread it's wings wide and dove down and landed on the smooth floor effortlessly. He stood proudly in front of Gail, who was almost as tall as him.  
  
"Wow," Krystal commented aloud, "I didn't know they got so big!" She shoved her hands into the baggy yellow shorts she was wearing and felt something. She grabbed onto it and pulled it out. It was a small pocket pokédex; an antique model too.   
  
"Hey!" Jacen called out, "So that's where I put it!" He reached for it, but Krystal pulled it out of his reach, "Hey!"  
  
"Hay is for Ponytas, Jacen," Krystal joked, "Please, let me try it out!"   
  
"No, I don't think-" he started, but she already opened it and pointed it at Talon. The pokédex beeped and sputtered out, "Onix, a water-type pokémon... can reach speeds of up to... 2 times it's--" it stopped and beeped some more. Jacen snatched it out of Krystal's hands and said, "Ugh. It went through the wash again! As if it wasn't defective enough!" he shook it up and a few drops of water leaked out. He quickly pocketed it. Krystal giggled, but then stopped when Bram glared at them.  
  
"We're trying to have a battle!" he pointed out.  
  
"Sorry," they apologized.  
  
Bram continued with the battle, "My pokémon shall be... Mookie!"   
  
Bram threw out his pokéball. It rolled about in a circle on the floor, until a lavender gengar popped out. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly, an unusual color for a gengar. Atop her head sat a purple and red jester's cap, but instead of bells at the end, there were pokéballs. She turned and smiled at Bram. Now that Krystal thought about it, though, she always had smile on her face. All the time, she was staring and smiling, smiling and staring... it was disturbing.  
  
"Genga!" she called out.   
  
"Oooh! A gengar!" Gail cried, "This will be very interesting."  
  
"Okay, Mookie," Bram ordered, "Give it a hypnosis attack!"   
  
Mookie reached up to her eyes and blinked. She didn't open them, but instead threw up her hands and opened them. In them were her eyes! Suddenly they were up in the air and she began to juggle. While juggling her eyes glowed and her pokéball rose and she juggled it also. Her eyes glowed deeper and Talon began to rock back and forth. Finally, Talon shook himself awake and soared into the sky.  
  
"Great job, Talon!" Gail congratulated him, "Now use your Swift attack!"  
  
Talon spread his wings and stars flew out towards Mookie. Mookie smiled even wider and closed her eyes, which she continued to juggle, as the stars passed through her like empty holograms. Her jester hat blew off, but other than that, she remained unscathed by the attack.  
  
"What!" Gail exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot that normal attacks don't work! Oh! Stupid Gail!" she smacked her forehead, "Stupid, think girl, think!"  
  
"I could have told her that one," Krystal whispered to Jacen.  
  
"I HEARD THAT!" She yelled to Krystal, who felt very embarrassed. Especially she was next in to battle the now angry gym leader.  
  
"Okay, Mookie, Try a tackle!" Bram called.  
  
"Genga!" she cried as she threw her eyes high towards the domed ceiling. With all her strength, she rushed faster and faster until she leaped and.... missed the flying pokémon, who faked left at the last moment and then flew off.  
  
"Talon, quickly, Quick Attack!" Gail flailed arms at Talon who whooshed by her. He nodded and pulled around and came straight at Mookie who had caught her eyes, and was again juggling. She didn't see Talon who was attacking from the side. Bram called out, but it was too late. She tried to leap out of the way, but Talon bumped her and sent her spinning towards a column in the corner of the gym.  
  
Bram growled, "That's it! Mookie use... your secret weapon!"  
  
Mookie hopped back up from the floor, grabbed one of her eyes, smiled wickedly, and chucked it at Talon. It spun wildly around, blinking, and knocked the giant bird square on the beak. Talon hovered, seemingly unharmed, for a few seconds, then suddenly plummeted from the air.   
  
Gail watched with her mouth hanging open. "Uhah..." she squeaked.  
  
Krystal yelled, "Bram, what on Earth do you call that?"  
  
He smiled debonairly. "I call that winning."  
  
Slowly, still in shock, Gail recalled her fallen pokémon. She turned to Bram. "Okay. Where do I sign?"  
  
Bram smiled at Mookie, who, as always, smiled back. "Alright!" He reached behind his back and brought out an electronic notepad with a little plastic pen attached. He handed it to her.  
  
Gail sighed and shook her head. As she signed it she commented, "You're going to be one heck of a gym leader." She handed it back to him.  
  
"I can not express enough thank-you's Gail," he said sincerly, Mookie stood beside him, still juggling her eyes and pokéball.  
  
"Welcome," Gail sighed.  
  
She turned to Krystal. "Your turn, kiddo." She threw out another pokéball, and a small, but spunky looking pidgey popped out. "Ready, Petey?"  
  
He squawked an affirmative response.  
  
"Okay, about time!" Krystal shouted. "I've thought about this for a very long time, and have made my decision. Are you ready, Buddy?"  
  
Buddy jumped into his battle postion. "Bul-ba!"  
  
She rolled a pokéball off her hand. "Brook, go!"  
  
"Bul-ba-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa!" Buddy fell over.  
  
Brook leaped out of the pokéball. *Yeah! Let's go!*  
  
"Brook, use...psychic!"  
  
Gail gasped, "A psychic jigglypuff!"  
  
Brook scratched her head hesitantly. *Uh, Krystal. Um, I hate to say this, but I-I don't... know psychic yet!*  
  
"What?!" Krystal screeched. Gail laughed heartily.  
  
*I am so sorry, Krystal, but how about this?* Brook wiggled around and little waves of psychic energy emanated out from her. They surrounded Petey. He tottered back and forth, and back and forth, until he toppled over.  
  
"Yeah," Krystal exclaimed, "We got him Brooke!"  
  
"I wouldn't be too sure about that!" Gail said proudly, "Don't count your Pokémon before their catched!"  
  
"But catched isn't a word," Jacen corrected her, "it's caught..."  
  
"Hey, I have poetic license!" Gail retorted.  
  
"I wonder how many signatures she had to collect for that one," Bram sniggered under his breath.  
  
"I HEARD that!" she cried, and Bram cowered in embarassment.   
  
Suddenly, Petey twitched and popped back up to his feet, as if he were fresh for battle once again. He called out happily.  
  
"Whoa..." Krystal said, "not even a scratch."  
  
"Okay Petey-boy, hit her with your toxic attack!"  
  
"BRROOOKKKEEE!" Krystal yelled, "Loooook out!"  
  
But it was too late, Brooke tried to escape on her liliputan feet, but tripped and Petey swooped over her, spewing out a thick purple liquid. Brooke tried to scrape the goo off herself, but it stung. She rolled around hoping to rub some onto the marble floor, but instead, it made things worse and it rubbed in her.  
  
"No," Krystal mouthed, "Please, no!"  
  
Brooke cringed and groaned, but then slowly rose to her feet. Krystal's eyes lit up like a single candle in a dark room. Hope filled her as Brooke bravely stepped forward, shaking off the excess poison that was on her body.   
  
"Go Brooke, Go!" she cheered as she charged towards Petey.  
  
*Doubleslap!* she cried as she furiously slapped Petey again and again.   
  
"Sheesh, five hits, and on the first try too!" Bram said, staring in astonishment.  
  
Petey flinched and stumbled around his eyes swirling.   
  
"Brooke, give him a... a..." She thought real hard, "uh, whatever it is that YOU think YOU should do! Yeah, that's it."  
  
Jacen gave her a funny look.   
  
*Ummm.... I got it! Hiiiiii-Yah!* Brooke cried out as she launched herself at poor, weary Petey, her small foot extended. She impacted hard, sending him down for the count, *I call that my Mega Kick!*   
  
"Piiijjjjj..." he cried softly.  
  
Gail stood stunned for a second. Then it hit her and she bowed, "That was a great battle Krystal. Looks like you've won yourself an Arrowbadge. Congratulations!" She picked up Petey and cradeled him in her arms as Bram, Mookie, and Jacen clapped for Krystal's victory.  
  
"Yesss!" Krystal shouted running up to give Brooke a big hug. She anticipated this, and leaped into Krystal's arms, "You did it! I'm soooo proud of you!!!!"  
  
*Thank you,* she said simply, feeling good inside that she had actually done it! She had now not only won one badge for Krystal, but two!   
  
With her free hand, Gail pulled a badge out of a concealed pocket in her tri-colored dress. It was an sleek ruby-red arrow, and as she handed it to Krystal, she carefully grabbed it and leapt into the air.  
  
"Yahoo! I got the Arrowbadge!"   
  
  
END of Chapter 6  



	7. The Great Hatching

Chapter 7: The Great Hatching  
  
Suddenly Heather and another girl burst into the Battle Arena. Gail turned and greeted them, "What's the matter now?" she saw the concerned look on their faces.  
  
"Seen a ghost... pokémon?" Bram chuckled along with Mookie, who burst into an uncontrollable cackle.  
  
"It's... It's... Happening..." Heather started.  
  
"Now?!?" Gail sighed.   
  
"In a few minutes or ... less..." Heather answered.  
  
Gail sighed again, "Not now! This is way too early. I don't want a repeat of last year's fiasco!"  
  
Krystal looked at Bram and Jacen, who seemed to have the same idea she herself had just gotten, "Gail, we can help!"  
  
"You? Help me?" Gail again paid attention to Krystal, "I don't know. This isn't is of your concern."  
  
"But what about all those pokémon! You said some DIED because you didn't have enough help, and now you are turning us away!!! Why?"  
  
Gail didn't have an answer for that.  
  
"We can help Gail, and you know it," Krystal answered for her, "You know it. Please, I don't want any of them to die."  
  
Gail stood for a minute, and looked at her friends at the door. She needed the help, but would she, could she let them help? She was usually so independent. It had taken her a year to realize she needed to hire assistants, and now came the next step. She decided to accept their help. She would do anything to save her little babies!  
  
"All right. Come on. There's not much time, and there's a lot of prep work to do."  
  
* * * Meanwhile * * *  
  
Jared and Jannie finally met up after their "adventures" around town. Once again they were at the gym, but this time at the back door, going over a plan of action.  
  
"Now do you understand?" Jared asked again.  
  
"Not really..." Jannie answered, tracing circles in the dirt with her foot.   
  
"Okay," Jared said, "Let me put it this way: Follow me in there, and try not to make us seen. Don't touch anything. Don't say anything. And don't breathe on me, I HATE that!"  
  
"But" Jannie started.  
  
"Look. It will work. We'll go in, find some disguises, and when those dorks aren't looking, we'll steal the best birds in the joint. Then we leave as quietly as possible, back out this door." Jared laughed at seeing his plan fall nicely together in his head, "Yes, those fools will be too busy to bother with us..."  
  
"Okay," Jannie sighed. She knew there was no use arguing with him when he was on one of his power trips, "Ready Sandy?"  
  
"Shrew, sand," she said.  
  
"Then let's go," Jared said, opening the back door. He peered both ways, and seeing no one, entered quietly into the building. It was another long hallway of that lead to the main Hatchery. Jannie clumsily followed with Sandy bringing up the rear of the party.  
  
They began to sneak around when two of Gail's younger assistants came around the corner.   
  
"Great," Jared mumbled.  
  
"Hey! You three! Come here, help us with this stuff. There's work to do!" Jared quickly came up with a plan.  
  
"Us? Work?" Jannie cried, "I don't think-" Jared cut her off.  
  
"Of course ladies, but what do want us to do exactly?" He asked slyly in his most mature, debonair voice.   
  
"Take these medical supplies back to the Hatchery and Gail will probably need help, so stay there. Got all that?"  
  
"Clear as crystal!" Jannie smiled nervously.  
  
"Grrr..." Jared mumbled at the sound of HER name.  
  
The two girls quickly loaded them down with medical supplies of all kinds, and just as quickly as they came, they vanished around another corner.  
  
"That guy was a hottie!" he heard one of them say, as it echoed towards them. Whispers carried far in this building. He smiled at himself; he still had it. Good looks ran in his family... well his adopted family anyways, or so he thought.  
  
It made the load easier to carry with all the hot air in his head. Jannie whined every so often, but Jared ignored her shrieking pleas and they headed into corridor after corridor til he saw a sign marking the Hatchery.   
  
* * *  
  
The last two minutes had been the most hectic any of our heros had experienced thus far. They had been ordered around by Gail to do numbers of different jobs as if she were their drill sergeant. Soon, there were piles of supplies and the tiled floor of the hatchery was covered in crib-like nests. Pillows lined the inside of the hatchery. Heather ran up and down the isles of eggs and was checking each one with a stethoscope, listening for any sign of the hatching to begin.  
  
Bram brought in more of the handmade nests and spread them out on the floor. Krystal was filling bottles with baby pokémon formula and setting them on a cart. Gail kept shouting out orders as Jacen walked by with his arms full of blankets and more pillows. He stopped to rest for a second and looked into the large incubation chamber. Suddenly he saw an egg move very slightly. He pressed his face up to the window and peered closer. He thought he heard a faint sound. He couldn't make it out exactly through the glass, but it was a squeaky, clicking noise.  
  
He dashed to Gail and reported what he had seen and heard. Quickly, he showed her the egg in question and Gail's eyes went wider than the ocean, "Okay people, this is it! Drop everything and grab some handling gloves."  
  
She opened up the incubation door and propped it open with a large box. Then she set the heat to the hatch setting and prepared for the first arrival. Gail had 5 other assistants plus Heather on staff to help, but looking at all the eggs, she felted overwhelmed. Even with the three extra helpers, she prayed it would be enough.   
  
Soon they all gathered around the egg. It was crowded with the nine people all staring at one small off-white egg. Krystal stared at it so long, she could see the tiny pink specks that dotted the it's pearly surface.   
  
It jumped suddenly, making everyone leap with it. Gail pushed everyone out of the way and put her ear to the egg. She heard the sweetest sound ever and she closed her eyes to take in the moment. The small life inside chirped and pecked on the shell. She pulled away as it began to peck harder and harder. It pecked once more, creating a crack in the shell. Everyone oohed and awed as it began to open wider. They saw its little egg tooth pop out and its beak protruded right behind it.   
  
The little one pushed out its body, breaking the shell further and it took its first breath of air, chirping loudly. Its wings spread out as the sides of the egg fell. It was wet from being in the egg and although it was a bit scraggly, it was actually pretty cute. Gail grabbed a pink towel from the floor and wrapped it up in it. The little one squirmed as Gail pronounced, "A girl," and she handed it to Heather, who cooed at it and headed outside the chamber.  
  
"How does she know?" Jacen asked one of the girls.  
  
"Gail has spent her life around pidgeys. Believe me, she knows," she answered with a comforting smile.   
  
Bram had been listening while all this was going on and heard more eggs going through the same process. More were starting every second that passed. Bram hurried towards one a few steps away, and watched it break out. Gail picked up a stack of blankets and Heather followed her. She took the pidgey and wrapped it up in another pink blanket, and handed it to Heather who again rushed off. Bram continued on down the line, making sure none of them fell to the floor. He almost bumped into Krystal who was doing the same thing.   
  
Jacen busied himself by taking pidgeys from Heather and placing them in nests and trying to calm everyone (even Gail) down. The duration between each hatching was getting shorter to the point where at least a dozen were hatching at once. The rest of the girls were busy drawing baths so they could clean up the babies. They didn't even notice when three familiar figures burst into the room.   
  
"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!" Jannie blurted out, but to her surprise, nobody heard her war cry.  
"Make it-What!" Jannie poked Jared, interrupting him, "What!"  
"They're ignoring us!" she whined pointing at all the people hurrying across the room.  
"Okay... I'll handle this," he said, "Hey you!"   
  
One of the girls they had met in the hall stopped, "ME?"  
  
"Yeah, what's going on?"  
  
"As if you don't know silly!" she giggled, a pair of pidgeys in her arms, "Take this one," she handed him a pidgey, "And be careful with it! I have too many now!" Once again she stormed off.   
  
"What?-I-I don't know what to do with it!" he handed the blue bundle to Jannie, who then handed it to Sandy who immediately mothered it.   
  
"Well, I don't know!!" Jannie whined again.  
  
The other girl passed by, "Hey, quit fooling around! Get over here and help us out!"   
  
Jared felt somehow they had no choice at this point, so he Jannie and Sandy joined the pidgey brigade! Soon they two were busy trying to keep everything under control, and doing a good job of it. This didn't last long as Jared and Krystal bumped into each other.  
  
"Ouch! Hey-It's YOU!" Jared glared at Krystal, shaking his fists.  
  
"What? What are YOU doing here? Stealing pokémon I bet!"  
  
"No, just watching the pidgeys, as are you I suppose?"  
  
"Quit arguing," said Gail as she passed by, "Pokémons' lives are at stake here! Now get back to work. You two can feel free to duke it out later at the Arena."  
  
The two of them sighed, and went their seperate directions, as the chaos reached its climax. Pidgeys began to fall out of the higher nests as they hatched and became restless. Bram pulled a baseball mitt from his cape and topped it with a pillow for comfort. He dived and caught pidgey after pidgey and never missed.   
  
"Knew I should've played Little League," Bram commented with a laugh as a pidgey fell on his head, "OooooWWW!"  
  
After twenty more minutes of madness, it began to quiet down, as most of the pidgeys were hatched and placed in secure nests. Only four eggs were left, and Gail had them moved to a different chamber, "That's the biggest ratio, we've had in a long time. These four are the only late bloomers this year, but they should hatch in a week or so."  
  
Gail announced the next task, "Now the naming begins!"  
  
"The Whosit?" Krystal asked.  
  
"Now we take record of each pidgey, tag them and name them. We'll start with the ones here in the front and work our way back." Gail replied.  
  
Everyone had become very tired at this point, but nonetheless they kept going. Jannie was having the most fun, and gave the most 'unusual' names one would give to a pidgey. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Gail usually let her use them, but some like "Stinky Peach" and "Pinky Pete" just did not fit the poor little pokémon.   
  
Jacen, Bram and Krystal had each grown attached to a particular pidgey. Krystal saw a little one near the front who she had given the name of "Beaker" because of his bulgy beak. Bram had come across a strange one indeed; it was purple, an odd shade for a pidgey. Mookie found it funny , and pointed it out to him. By translation of Bram, Mookie said a good name would be Casper, which did suit her, but it was usually a guy's name. Then again Ashley was once just a guy's name (like Ash), but now girls more frequently use it. Jacen found his near the back of the lot. She was a dark reddish color, and her name was Phoenix.  
  
Jannie and Jared however, seemed to have their eyes on all the pidgeys at once. They were taking care to note which ones that appeared strongest. How in the world they knew what they were doing is beyond us. Evil does that to you.   
  
Gail finally finished recording all the data that her assistants had collected for her. She began to enter the data into her computer program. Krystal approached her.   
  
"Uh, Gail,"  
  
"What is it? I'm busy right now..."  
  
"Well, are we done now?"  
  
"Yep," Gail said, keying along, "I just have to input all this data to my database. Thanks for all your help."  
  
"You're welcome." Krystal sighed.  
  
Heather came by and took over entering the data, and Gail stood up, "Oh , your clothes should be done by now. Stormy," she called to a girl who walked by, "Could you go grab Krystal's clothes from the laundry room?"  
  
"Sure thing, I'll be right back."  
  
"Before you leave, I want to give you each something." Gail said to her , walking towards the pidgeys' nests. I believe every good trainer need s to master the basics before they can ever become a true pokémon master. Pidgey maybe the most basic of pokémon, but I think of it as a strong foundation to an even stronger trainer. I want you guys to have a pidgey. You deserve them after helping us out."  
  
"I-I-Thank you so much!" Krystal cried, running straight to little Beaker's nest and plucking him out, giving him a small hug, "Jacen, Bram, did you hear that? We get to keep one!"  
  
"Really?" Jacen said, "I don't know about that, I've only had one pokémon my whole life. I'm not sure I'm up to taking in another one."  
  
"Oh, don't be silly!" Gail said, "Every good trainer needs a pidgey, and every good pidgey needs a trainer! Hey, it can only help you. Pidgeys are very handy! Many people use them as messengers, to find missing things, or just for fun!"  
  
"Well, since you put it that way..." Jacen said.  
  
"Great!" Gail said, "You won't be sorry!"  
  
Jacen choose Phoenix, and Bram took Casper. Gail gave them some pokéballs that had Aviary Gym stamped on the bottom, "Please spread word about the gym, we can use some more employees and volunteers, even some more trainers for me to battle."  
  
"I'll be sure to put in a word for you to the other trainers and the League Heads Gail. I'm sure they'd help you get some funding." Bram said reassuringly.  
  
"I certainly hope so," she replied, "We can't keep coasting along like this. Sooner or later our gym could crash and burn. Anyways, thanks again for all your help. Because of you, the pidgey population is right on schedule."  
  
They all waved goodbye and exited the gym. Stormy caught up to them before they left and gave an ecstatic Krystal her clean clothes. They then followed the path down the hill the gym sat upon, onto their next adventure.  
  
  
END of Chapter 7 


	8. NEO Team Rocket Strikes Out Again

Chapter 8: NEO Team Rocket Strikes Out Again  
  
Jared and Jannie watched our heroes leave the gym. A little agitated Jared commented, "I still can't believe I worked side-by-side with that BRAT... It makes my blood boil just saying that..."   
  
He wanted to leave the gym as fast as he could, but not without taking a souvenir first. He expressed this silently to Jannie, and he hoped she understood what he was going to do. At least, he knew she would be quiet. Sandy followed obediently behind her.   
  
They slowly made their way over to Gail, and snuck past her. Creeping about in a strange manner, it's surprising no one noticed them. They bent over a nest and Jared quickly snatched up a pidgey, and Jannie picked up the empty nest and set it on top of a pile of empty ones. Sandy pushed the rest of the nests together, so it didn't look like one was missing. Jared then handed the pidgey to Sandy who cuddled it like a doll. She walked between Jannie and Jared, so no one would see her holding the baby pidgey.  
  
They found their way out of the gym and once safely out of range of it, they looked at their small prize. It was a boy named Little Goliath; obviously Jannie had named it.   
  
"Kinda scrawny for a pidgey," Jared said, looking it over, "But I suppose with the right training by someone of my skill, it could become great!"  
  
"Your training? I want to train it! You just got a new pokémon. One that was SUPPOSED to be MINE. I want this one!" Jannie complained.  
  
"You can't handle a pidgey!" he retailiated.   
  
"But you said we don't need no stinkin' pidgey!" she said.  
  
"When did I say that?"   
  
"I don't know, maybe it was on a movie?" she suggested, shrugging.  
  
"UG! Sometimes Jannie I wonder how I put up with you..." he put his hand to his forehead in digust.  
  
"But you gotta be nice to me cause I'm your girlfriend!!! Why don't you give me Goliath as a present, because I'm so beautiful?"  
  
"Because of selfish comments like that, I don't think you should have it! Prove to me you can care for it and I MIGHT let you have it," he proposed, knowing she couldn't even if she tried.  
  
While the two of them were bickering, Sandy had been playing peek-a-boo with Goliath who chirped happily from the attention she gave him. He was sitting on her lap and he appeared to be very content to stay there.  
  
"Oh well," Jared sighed, "Anyways, we need to figure out our next move," he sat down on a rock to think about it.  
  
"I think we need more members in NEO Team Rocket! Quantity is much better than quality anyday. Or is it the other way around?"  
  
"It's the other way around," Jared said bluntly.  
  
"Shut up Jared! Don't contradict me!" she said, adding emphasis on the 'big' word.  
  
"You don't even know what 'contradict' means Jannie!" Jared pointed out.  
  
"Yes I do, I looked it up in the thesaurus!" she stated proudly.  
  
"Don't you mean dictionary?" he asked.  
  
"Whatever...Shut-up Jared!" she whined, "Anyway, people can't ignore a dozen trained Team Rocket members!"  
  
Jannie did have a point. They could get some more done with a few more members. It would feel good to have someone knew to boss around. Most of his "flunkies" lived back in Viridian, so he'd have to find some more. How would they do that anyway?  
  
"How do you suggest we get these new members? It's not like we could hold some sort of broadway audition to find them!" Jared said to Jannie.  
  
"But that's what I thought we COULD do! I just know it would work! I could make pretty posters and then you could hang them up all over the place. Then we'd have tons of people coming!" Jannie squealed with delight.  
  
"All right, I guess it's worth a shot. Seeing as how we have lots of time on our hands. I just want to get back at ... her..." Jared growled again at the mere thought of Krystal.  
  
"Yippee! I'll get started making the posters as soon as we get to the next town. Sandy can help!" Jannie was having one of her extremely excited moods now.  
  
"We'd better get going now, while it's still light outside," Jared said, following the path that Krystal, Bram and Jacen had taken. Jannie and Sandy followed close behind, with Little Goliath riding on Sandy's back.  
  
END OF EPISODE 3  
  
To be continued in... Episode 4: Shark Attack! 


End file.
